Our firm is pleased to announce that WRG Marketing & Operations Director, Jesse Welsch was selected as a 2018 Unsung Legal Hero by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Jesse received this award for his dedication and passion for his work 'behind the scenes' at our firm and was one of only two candidates recognized in the IT/Operations category.

A supplemental publication was distributed last month highlighting the 2018 Unsung Heroes with a short feature on each recipient. However, we would like to share Jesse's full responses to the questionnaire he submitted as part of his acceptance of this honor.

Congratulations Jesse!

Why did you choose a career in the legal field?
I think it would be more appropriate to say that a career in the legal field chose me. One of my close friends Stephen Pfeiffer, an attorney here at WRG, approached me in 2014 and asked if I would be interested in a role with his firm that would suit my fairly unique combination of marketing and technology skills. I told Steve I was open to the idea but to not get his hopes up as I was on a very different career path at that time. However, after only one meeting I knew that WRG and I would be a great fit for each other. Coming to work here is one of the best career choices I have ever made.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?
 Our firm’s culture and the people I work with, by far. I am very fortunate to work alongside of some excellent attorneys and legal professionals in a very collegial atmosphere. It’s one thing to have a good working relationship with those that you share an office with, but I think it speaks volumes about the caliber of people our firm attracts when I can say that I enjoy spending time with my coworkers outside of the office in purely social settings as well.

What do you consider your biggest professional accomplishment and why?
Next to being recognized as one of Virginia’s ‘Unsung Legal Heroes’, I would say it would be when I was recently informed that our firm will be the first law firm to be inducted into the ‘Best Of’ Hall of Fame by Coastal Virginia Magazine. We are receiving this recognition because the firm has won the Gold Award for ‘Best Of: Law Firms’ four years in a row. I have personally spearheaded our ‘Best Of’ campaign each year and every year since I have been with WRG we have won a Gold Award. I would be thrilled if we can continue our track record of success in 2019 and make it 5 straight years of Gold Awards.

Tell us about your first job and what you learned from it.
The very first job I had was bussing tables for a local restaurant, Rudee’s on the Inlet, in the summers when I was out of school from ages 14 to 18. Rudee’s is one of the most popular restaurants for VB visitors and locals alike. In the summers it wouldn’t be unusual for the restaurant to be on a 1 – 2 hour wait almost the entire evening on a Friday or Saturday. To keep up with turning the tables over you had to hustle while communicating with the rest of your team members on which tables are cleared, who is covering what section, etc. Working at a busy restaurant at a young age taught me how important it is to have a strong work ethic which is something I have carried with me ever since.    

What do you enjoy doing in your time away from work?
Over the past several years I have developed a real passion for food and for cooking. My love of food has propelled my desire to continue to develop my skills in the kitchen. This has led to me being asked to conduct cooking classes or demonstrations, cooking dinners for couples as prizes for raffles/contests and I was even approached by a casting company about participating in a cooking show but unfortunately the timing didn’t work out for that.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Anywhere that has either great food destinations or great SCUBA diving locations. One of the best vacations I have taken that included both of these things would be a trip my family took a few years ago to Roatan which is an island off the coast of Honduras. There I was able to enjoy some fantastic Caribbean cuisine and some amazing dives including one wreck dive that put me almost nose to nose with a giant sea turtle.

What are two things about you that not many people know? The first thing I would say most people don’t know about me was that I once had a career in media, and specifically music video, production. That afforded me the opportunity to work with some very prominent names in the music industry and even lead to my appearing in a couple of music videos that we produced. Another fact that most people find surprising is that I am a native of Virginia Beach. Born and raised. I suppose that’s startling given the fact that Hampton Roads is heavily saturated with military residents who are transplants from other parts of the country, and many who grew up in Virginia Beach at some point move away. But I am proud to say that I grew up and still live in my hometown.